{"id":3236,"date":"2012-06-29T12:45:59","date_gmt":"2012-06-29T18:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=3236"},"modified":"2012-06-29T12:45:59","modified_gmt":"2012-06-29T18:45:59","slug":"judy-lopez-a-big-move-wifyr-and-deadlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/?p=3236","title":{"rendered":"Judy Lopez, a big move, WIFYR, and deadlines!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The title of this entry is meant to be a kind of explanation. Sometimes I come to my own blog, look at the last time I posted, and I just stare at the screen in confusion. Has it really been that long? Yes, yes it has. And a lot has happened since then.<\/p>\n

First, I am thrilled to announce that I am now a full-time writer. At the beginning of June, I officially resigned from my career in School Psychology, which I have loved, to pursue a career I love more. It had reached a point where I simply could not do both, and to continue trying meant compromising both in a way I could not accept. So with a mix of emotions, I gave my notice, and since then I have felt such relief and joy it’s difficult to describe. I will miss working in the schools everyday. I will miss the administrators and teachers and staff and fellow school psychologists I still count as dear friends. But hopefully school visits (which I love doing) will keep me in touch with my young readers.<\/p>\n

The other big change is that I have moved from Utah to Northern Idaho. It’s so beautiful up here, with lakes and pine trees and wildlife. I will miss much about Utah. Family and friends, most of all, but also the amazing writing community. But I guess that’s what email is for, right? And I’m looking forward to meeting the writers who live here. We’re everywhere, you know.<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Icefall<\/em> has won the Judy Lopez Memorial Award. It’s an award given by the L.A. chapter of the Women’s National Reading Association, and I am so honored. They presented me with a beautiful medal, which you can see to the left. They brought me to L.A. for the award ceremony, which was lovely, and I got to listen to Eugene Yelchin speak about what books meant to him during his childhood in communist Russia. A very powerful and moving speech. He’ll be at the SCBWI annual conference this summer, at which I am speaking, and I’m looking forward to talking with him again. Thanks to Rosalind and Meg for taking such great care of me and showing me around their corner of L.A.<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

I recently got back from the Writing and Illustrating for Young Readers Workshop. It was such an amazing experience returning to the place where my journey as a children’s writer began. My students (not a term I’m comfortable with – I prefer to think of them as my fellow writers) were amazing. So much talent and so many wonderful stories. It was truly a memorable, exhausting, and rewarding week. I enjoyed my time with the other members of the faculty, and formed some lasting friendships. Thank you to Carol Lynch Williams for inviting me. I’ll come back anytime!<\/p>\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

The last thing I want to mention is that you shouldn’t be surprised if I go another month before I post again. I’m currently under deadline for my next book, due in a matter of weeks, after which I have to immediately begin writing my installment in the Infinity Ring<\/em> series. It’s stressful, but I’m grateful for the stress, because it means I get to keep doing the thing I love, and do it full-time. I get to keep telling stories. And speaking of which, they’re waiting for me!<\/p>\n

P.S. A few more reviews of Icefall<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Bookshop Talk<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Books j’adore<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Julian’s Abroad<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The title of this entry is meant to be a kind of explanation. Sometimes I come to my own blog, look at the last time I posted, and I just stare at the screen in confusion. Has it really been that long? Yes, yes it has. And a lot has happened since then.
\nFirst, I am […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1mtjQ-Qc","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3236"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3260,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3236\/revisions\/3260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/matthewjkirby.com\/kirbside\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}